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Author: Cobus van Staden

Top State Department Official Says China’s Debt Relief Offer to Sri Lanka is “Not Enough”

Another senior U.S. diplomat has accused China of not doing enough to resolve Sri Lanka’s debt renegotiation, a sign that the island’s financial crisis is increasingly being framed geopolitically. U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Victoria Nuland said: "What China ...

China on Debt: It’s Not Us, It’s You

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning pushed back against recent allegations by senior Western officials that China is holding back debt restructuring in Zambia. Citing recent statistics from the Zambian government, Mao pointed out that Zambia’s debt burden is predominantly Western, with 24% ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

Top State Department Official Says China’s Debt Relief Offer to Sri Lanka is “Not Enough”

Another senior U.S. diplomat has accused China of not doing enough to resolve Sri Lanka’s debt renegotiation, a sign that the island’s financial crisis is increasingly being framed geopolitically.
U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Victoria Nuland said: “What China has offered so far is not enough. We need to see credible and specific assurances that they will meet the IMF standard of debt relief.”

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China, World Bank Spar Over Who’s to Blame For Delays in Zambia Debt Relief

A major philosophical difference is emerging as a hold-up to Zambia’s much-needed debt relief. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning recently said the key to easing Zambia’s debt burden “lies in the participation of multilateral financial institutions and commercial creditors in the debt-relief efforts.”

Why Linda Thomas-Greenfield’s Hot Take on Chinese Debt in Africa Is So Problematic

In a recent interview, the U.S. ambassador to the UN (and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Africa) weighed in on China's role in African debt distress in terms that could be described as 'blinkered' at best ('disingenuous' is another possibility): 

China Blocked Kenya From Getting Competitive Bids to Build Costly Railway, Supreme Court Told

Kenya’s Supreme Court hearings into the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) deal are revealing a deal tainted by collusion between Chinese and Kenyan actors. The account emerging from testimony shows that the deal defied oversight from the start. COMPETITIVE BIDDING: Financing depended on China ...

China Ramps Up Brazilian Corn Imports

A ship carrying 51,200 tons of corn became the first Brazilian vessel to dock at Jiangyin Port on the Yangtze River, with ships from the agricultural giant delivering 2.4 million tons of grain in total. The delivery comes as Brazil (the second largest corn exporter in the ...

Angolan Police Arrest 8 in Raid on Chinese-run Bitcoin Mining Operation

Eight Chinese nationals were arrested and servers and other equipment were seized by Angolan authorities during a raid on a Chinese-led illegal bitcoin mining operation hidden in a brick factory in Kwanza Norte Province. (AFRICAN OVERSEAS CHINESE NEWS - in Chinese)

China-Argentina Call Reveals Closer Ties

China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang held a phone conversation with his Argentine counterpart Santiago Cafiero, the newest sign of the two countries’ increasing closeness. Argentina is a champion of closer cooperation between China and Latin America and plans to ...

U.S. Panic About Chinese Land Grabs Echoes Africa

Recent reports in the right-leaning press in the United States claim that China is escalating purchases of American farms. This drumbeat is partly in support of the proposed Promoting Agriculture Safeguards and Security (PASS) act. The bipartisan measure would block investments ...

A Chinese Giant’s Complicity in South Africa’s Corruption Disaster

Anyone who knows a South African will be amply aware that the country is currently undergoing economically ruinous rolling blackouts labeled ‘loadshedding.’ Even if you don’t know them, South Africans are liable to follow you down the street, foam-flecked and shouting about Eskom, the corruption-addled ...

Why Africa Shouldn’t Count on Janet Yellen for Debt Help

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is in Africa touting the Biden administration’s reenergized Africa policy. Her visit comes as several African countries are struggling with debt distress and Zambia and Ghana have officially defaulted.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Blames China for Delays in Zambia Debt Restructuring

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen accused China of blocking progress for Zambia's drawn-out debt restructuring process that is now entering its second year. “I know the Chinese have been a barrier to concluding the negotiations,” she ...
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